This is slightly embarrasing..

[smurph1]

It's funny..I've been in bands on and off for the better part of fourty years..but I don't know how to use the effects loop on my amp..I've always just chained my pedals together and ran em straight into the amp..It always worked for me, but now I'm wondering if I should start using my effects loop.. One says effects send, the other says effects return..What's the deal? Is there really any advantage to using the effects loop? Thanks in advance..Scott

[DetroitBlues]

Effects loops are great for modulations such as reverb, tremolo, delay, flanger, phaser, etc. Basically sounds you don't want altered by the preamp gain/distortion. (I may be wrong on some of those effects) Those are typically good for high gain amps. If you're a clean amp player that uses pedals for dirt like me, effects loops are really not needed.

 

Oh, if you choose to use an effects loop, you'll need another set of patch cables too. Send goes into the pedal chain, return goes back to it. I only used mine for my tuner that I left on top of my amp when I was playing a Peavey Valveking.

[Hfan]

It's funny..I've been in bands on and off for the better part of fourty years..but I don't know how to use the effects loop on my amp..I've always just chained my pedals together and ran em straight into the amp..It always worked for me, but now I'm wondering if I should start using my effects loop.. One says effects send, the other says effects return..What's the deal? Is there really any advantage to using the effects loop? Thanks in advance..Scott

Don't feel bad, I don't know what an effects loop is.

[barrymclark]

I dont either. I don't use them! haha.

[mars_hall]

Send is out to the processor. Return is in from the processor

[Guest HRB853370]

I had the same question in March, 2011

 

http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/topic/12589-sendreceive-question/page__hl__%2Bsend+%2Breceive__fromsearch__1

[Bonefish]

I'm a big fan of the effects loop as it can make a big difference in the sound. The standard approach is exactly what DetroitBlues said, wah, distortion and overdrive are typically at the front; delay, modulation, etc are at the back. Volume can be at any point (typically first or last). The way it's used is that you go from your guitar to your pre-loop chain (e.g. distortion/wah/OD), from there you go to the Instrument input as you always did. Then you run a cable from the "Send" on your effects loop to the first pedal in your effects loop chain (e.g. reverb, delay, flanger). Run a cable from the last pedal in your loop to the return.

 

I took three cables of equal length and zip tied them together, this makes cable management on the effects loop very simple to manage (one for the instrument input and then two for the effects loop).

 

There are a couple different types of effects loop that can cause some variation (parallel vs serial). But the info above is a good rule of thumb.

[JeffB]

I'm a big fan of the effects loop as it can make a big difference in the sound. The standard approach is exactly what DetroitBlues said, wah, distortion and overdrive are typically at the front; delay, modulation, etc are at the back. Volume can be at any point (typically first or last). The way it's used is that you go from your guitar to your pre-loop chain (e.g. distortion/wah/OD), from there you go to the Instrument input as you always did. Then you run a cable from the "Send" on your effects loop to the first pedal in your effects loop chain (e.g. reverb, delay, flanger). Run a cable from the last pedal in your loop to the return.

 

I took three cables of equal length and zip tied them together, this makes cable management on the effects loop very simple to manage (one for the instrument input and then two for the effects loop).

 

There are a couple different types of effects loop that can cause some variation (parallel vs serial). But the info above is a good rule of thumb.

Same. Even marked them so I could set up with out thinking too hard.

Some stomps dont like the loop signal and will clip and sound bad.

I like chorus in front rather than the loop on a cleanish amp.

[TalismanRich]

I've always wondered what the signal level of the loop is, compared to the output of the pickups. If you are after the preamp stage, you should clearly be far hotter than the a pickup. Is it up to line level?

 

BTW, if you can put a volume pedal in the loop, that would be a great way to avoid the drop in tone when the volume gets rolled off, since it would have no affect on the loading of the pickup (which is what causes the top end to drop off as you roll the volume down).

 

Personally, I've never used the effects loop on either my Classic 30 or my DSL401. The Heritage doesn't have one.

[schundog]

When I use a Multi-Effect pedal with amp modelling, it's best to go through the effects loop so that the "real" amp I'm using doesn' t color the sound of the amp I'm modelling. When I use my analog pedal board, I just usually go straight into the regular input on the amp. My Traynor YCV40 and Peavey Classic 30 have effect loops, my Fender Deluxe Reverb, Super Champ, and Blues Junior do not.

[mars_hall]

I've always wondered what the signal level of the loop is, compared to the output of the pickups. If you are after the preamp stage, you should clearly be far hotter than the a pickup. Is it up to line level?

 

http://www.ovnilab.com/articles/fxloop.shtml

[TalismanRich]

Thanks Mark. I've suspected that it would be line level and more appropriate for rackmount units, but the manuals never seem to have that information.

[smurph1]

If I get some time I may play around with using the effects loop..but honestly I have a pretty sweet sounding setup just running direct into the amp...But thanks for the input!! I guess I was more curious than anything else..

[DetroitBlues]

Doesn't hurt to ask! Good luck!

[koula901]

Same. Even marked them so I could set up with out thinking too hard.

Some stomps dont like the loop signal and will clip and sound bad.

I like chorus in front rather than the loop on a cleanish amp.

 

what does it mean when something will "clip" ?

[DetroitBlues]

 

what does it mean when something will "clip" ?

 

The sound will come and go quickly. Almost like someone is flicking the standby switch on/off really fast. I hate that when I'm running a sound board.

[TalismanRich]

Clipping means that the sound wave has "maxed out" and loses the original shape at the extremes of the cycle. The harder the signal is clipped, the more the wave goes from a sine wave to a square wave. You can see below how the rounded peaks are beginning to become flat topped.

 

 

A square wave will sound very hard, and has a large amount of high frequency energy. A fuzz tone will have the same effect although it will never reach a true square wave.